Fasting and Prayer: The Fruit of Fasting

“The point is this: fasting identifies with God’s perspective and grief in a sacred moment. Fasting enables us to identify with how God views a given event; fasting empowers us to empathize with God. Fasting is about pathos, taking on the emotions of God in a given event. This will be explored at times in what follows, but for now I use it to illustrate the very important point that fasting is a response to a sacred moment and not an instrument to get what we want. When people tell us they are fasting, we should ask, ‘In response to what?’ instead of, ‘What do you hope you will get out of it?’” (McKnight, Scot. Fasting. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2009, p. 20.)

Have you ever fasted? To what degree were you trying to “make something happen” as opposed to responding to what McKnight calls “God’s perspective in a sacred moment”? Do you see fasting as outcome-focused or God-focused? Fasting and Prayer – how might this perspective on fasting guide you in prayer?